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Gem Diamonds: South Africa..No impact on Letseng from Lesotho crisis

Gem Diamonds, owners of the Letseng mine in Lesotho, released a statement on Monday saying it did not anticipate any impact on operations from the political crisis in the tiny land-locked nation.

Prime Minister Thomas Thabane fled Lesotho for South Africa on Saturday after the military in Lesotho disarmed police in the capital, Maseru, in what the prime minister called a military coup.

Talks between the different factions mediated by South African President Jacob Zuma appeared to have some success with Lesotho’s leaders agreeing to a roadmap with a “clear timeline” to re-open parliament.

London-listed Gem Diamonds Limited said it “has seen media reports of army activity in Maseru, Lesotho but, at this stage, our management in Lesotho report that Maseru is calm and there is no disruption whatsoever at the company’s Letseng mine which is situated some 4 hours from Maseru in the mountains.”

“It is not anticipated that there will be any impact upon operations at Letseng nor upon any of the company’s sales and marketing operations in respect of the Letseng production,” according to the company.

Gem Diamonds owns 70% of the Letseng mine and the rest belongs to the Lesotho government.

Since it took control in 2006 the mine the company has produced four of the top 20 largest white gem quality diamonds on record.

Image: The Letšeng Legacy is currently ranked as the 16th largest rough white diamond ever recovered. Courtesy of Gem Diamonds